NEW YORK: The UNICEF has said that an estimated 11.5 million boys and men around the world were married as children. Of which 1 in 5 children (2.3 million) were married off before the age of 15.

The study was carried out by compiling data collected from 82 countries. Child marriage among boys is prevalent across a range of countries around the world. The incidents of child marriage span in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore cautions everyone against the practices of child marriage in a statement issued on Friday and said, ‘Marriage steals childhood. Child grooms are forced to take on adult responsibilities for which they may not be ready. Early marriage brings early fatherhood, and with it added pressure to provide for a family, cutting short education and job opportunities.’

According to the data, the Central African Republic has the highest prevalence of child marriage among males (28 per cent), followed by Nicaragua (19 per cent) and Madagascar (13 per cent).

Nepal ranks 10th in the world in child marriage for boys. For Nepal it means that one in 10 men aged between 20 and 24 were married as children.

Similarly, UNICEF observed that 1 in 5 young women aged 20 to 24 years old married before their 18th birthday, compared to 1 in 30 young men.

UNICEF Executive Director said, ‘As we mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we need to remember that marrying boys and girls off while they are still children runs counter to the rights enshrined in the Convention.’ (Agencies)